Shakespeare
Himself |
Schooling |
- probably entered Stratford Grammar School at age 7
- students spent 11 hours a day, 6 days a week in school
- students studied Latin grammar, composition and literature, maybe
Greek
- writing and reading English taught at home; spelling was done
phonetically
- teachers were graduates of Oxford University; strict discipline and
physical punishment
- by modern standards, demanding, dull, and strict
|
Marriage |
- November 17, 1582 to Anne Hathaway (26), Wm (18)
- First child, Susanna, born May 1583
- Twins, Hamnet and Judith, born 1585 (Hamnet died young and was
indeed part of the inspiration for Hamlet.)
|
The
Lost Years |
- little is known about Shakespeare's life from 1585-1592
|
1592 |
- Shakespeare is living in London without his family
- an acclaimed actor and established playwright
|
1593 |
- Plague! Clergy blames the evils of society, one of which is
considered to be the theatre, and demands that they close.
- Actors were left to tour country markets and rural towns.
- Shakespeare stayed in London to write poetry. Venus and Adonis
(1593), The Rape of Lucrece (1594)
|
1595 |
- Theatres reopen
- Shakespeare joins "Lord Chamberlain's Men" who eventually
become "The King's Men" under James I (1604)
|
1599 |
- The Globe
Theatre opened by members of "Lord Chamberlain's Men,"
including Shakespeare
- Theatre was fascinating and pretty much the only show in town. Great
special effects, cheap seats for the groundlings, festivals, etc . . .
|
1599-1608 |
- Period of extraordinary literary activity for Shakespeare
|
1612 |
- Retired to a new place in Stratford
|
1616 |
- Died: April 23, 1616 of unknown causes
|
Elizabethan
England - The Renaissance |
Elizabeth
I |
- Queen from 1558 to 1603; 25 years old when crowned
- the Virgin Queen
- Incredible and unique leader
|
The
Renaissance |
- European movement centered in Italy but shared throughout most of
Europe
- Rebirth: of the classics and classical
- Great art, architecture, literature, music, philosophy
|
Flavor
of the Period |
- Optimistic
- National pride
- Prosperous
- Discovery
- Education
- Poetry and plays
|
London |
- Population 200,000
- commercial and economic center of England; capital
- important world trade market
- crowded, unsanitary, hovels for the lower classes; the Court and
Affluent flourished
- no sewer system; no running water
- plague
- fire was always a threat with houses so close together
|
Violence |
- and you thought we were a violent people:
- beheadings
- hangings
- bear and bull baiting; cock fighting
- dueling
- theatres used sheep's bladders and blood to create gory special
effects
|
Theatre |
- historians estimate 40,000 people per week attended theatre -
roughly 1/5 the entire population of London
- other pastimes included dancing and drinking at local taverns
|
Romeo and
Juliet & The Craft of the Play |
The
Sources |
- a poem by Arthur Brooke called The Tragicall Historye of Romeus
and Juliet, written in 1562.
- also could have known the popular tale of Romeo and Juliet
from a collection by William Painter, entitled The Palace of
Pleasure, approx. 1580
- various
others were similar in plot and theme
|
The
Language |
- is called Elizabethan is considered modern English despite it's
obviously different nature from ours
- is largely written in blank verse - unrhymed iambic pentameter (easy
to memorize)
- uses heroic couplets
- it is poetry so you have to read it that way - inverted word orders,
non-literal language
- will use straight prose for lower classes or bawdy comedy; sometimes
for madness
- loaded with imagery, figurative language, metaphor, conceit, etc. .
.
- Shakespeare himself invented over 400 words when he couldn't find
the right one!
- Poetry experts use his rhymes to figure out how the language was
pronounced.
- Read as normally as possible, looking only for plot and meaning at
first; analyze for the literary techniques separately.
|
The
Themes |
o
The Value of Rationality in Problem Solving
o
The Value of Friendship
o
The Power of Love
o
The Individual vs. Society
o
The Inevitability of Fate |
The
Techniques |
This play
is called a tragedy in the classic Greek sense.
**The Greeks did theirs in 3 acts, Shakespeare in 5 - but it's the same
and uses the same plot curve we've covered in class. (Note how Acts I-V
correspond to the plot curve sections.)
**Technical climax in Act III; Dramatic is subjective though we’ll say
it’s the suicide scene for testing purposes.
**Refer to Act, Scene, Line number: (I, ii, 62-64) or (1.2.62-64)
The Chorus:
Soliloquy:
Aside:
Monologue:
Tragic Flaw/Tragic Hero:
iambic pentameter:
blank verse:
couplet:
prose:
comic relief/pun:
oxymoron:
motif:
Embedded Sonnets
Figurative language of all types (metaphors, similes),
imagery, allusions (lots to mythology and religion)
Other “Ol’ Familiar” Techniques: foreshadowing,
alliteration, dramatic irony
Characterization is key - study the people |
The
Play |
|